Injury expert Ben Dinnery has been reacting to injury news on Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne, Football Insider report.
The Lowdown: Digne’s injury
The Frenchman added to Steven Gerrard’s Villa injury problems during the international break. L’Equipe claimed that the defender suffered a possible stress fracture to his right ankle following initial examinations and missed UEFA Nations League fixtures against Austria and Denmark as a result.
However, the same outlet have since added that the player could be back in mid-October with the problem not as bad as first feared.
The Latest: Dinnery’s comments
Dinnery, who contributes for Sky Sports, was talking to FI regarding Digne’s injury.
He said that if Digne has suffered a stress fracture, as was ‘reported’, he could be looking at a four-to-six-week absence and not a two-week timeframe.
“It was French outlet L’Equipe that reported it was a hairline fracture of the ankle.
“I am always a little bit wary of foreign outlets reporting injury news. There have been a lot of examples of timelines going a little bit awry.
“If that were the case, he would return to Villa for a full evaluation and assessment. If that was revealed to be the case, I can’t see the two-week timeline being realistic.
“If it is a fracture, I would be looking between four and six weeks at best, it could be mid to late October. At worst, it could be creeping up to November.
“But we need to know the precise nature of the injury. At the moment, we are just going by what’s reported.”
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The Verdict: Fingers crossed
It looks as if Digne will almost certainly miss Sunday’s trip to Leeds United, but hopefully, he can return in good time prior to the World Cup.
The 29-year-old hasn't missed a minute of Premier League action so far and has been a key member of the squad after joining from Everton earlier this year.
Villa have nine fixtures prior to the break, so having Digne available for some of those could prove crucial for Gerrard and the player himself, who will be looking to be on the plane to Qatar.
Summer signing Ludwig Augustinsson may have to fill for Digne over the coming weeks, though, and it’ll be interesting to see the timeframe Gerrard gives to the media.